Admitted child rapist Ernie Begaye is still a free man. Earlier this year, Begaye told police he repeatedly raped and molested three young girls in late 2011.

Target 7 spoke to the victims' mother in May.

"Even though he confessed, you know. I don't know, it's scary," said the mother who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The problem is that Begaye lived on a parcel of land on Fort Wingate, where punishing people for felony crimes just hasn't happened.

"I've pretty much deemed it as a prosecution free zone," District Attorney Karl Gillson said.A Target 7 investigation uncovered that the Navajo Nation can prosecute Begaye, but they won't because the penalties aren't stiff enough.

"Right now, we can charge him with 13 misdemeanors that may possibly give him a year in jail," Gillson said.

If the U.S. Attorney's Office steps in, the penalties will be harsher.

"If a crime happens on the Navajo reservation that's beyond a misdemeanor, the FBI comes in. They take over the investigation. That's almost routine," Gillson said.

The U.S. attorney's office told Target 7 in May that it's not their jurisdiction. Now their answer is slightly differ: they said they cannot comment on investigations.

The victims and their mother have since moved away from Fort Wingate and are currently hiding.